# Your Religion



## Minish (Mar 14, 2009)

I think we had one of these a while ago, but whatever. :D

I think we can all guess what will be the biggest answer, but please answer honestly~

I couldn't be bothered to put every single religion in existence, so yeah. I just put the three main 'groups'. Feel free to elaborate on your answer. (The poll choices kind of suck, stuff like this is hard to categorise D:)

As for me, I've pretty much been agnostic all my life but I'm slowly drifting into paganism, most likely Wicca. Which means I believe in the Goddess and to a lesser extent the Horned God, but basically I see them as figurative beings rather than deities, and really the Goddess is just a personification of the earth (Mother Nature basically) for me. You know what, I'm just going to go for 'Other'. X3


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## Doctor Jimmy (Mar 14, 2009)

Agnostic. Religion is overrated.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 14, 2009)

I'm an atheist.


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## Lady Grimdour (Mar 14, 2009)

Raised a theist, now I don't care.


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## Thanks for All the Fish (Mar 14, 2009)

Agnostic, which would, in a way, explain my need to analyze everything.
Raised as a Catholic, though.


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## spaekle (Mar 14, 2009)

Atheist~


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## Departure Song (Mar 14, 2009)

Atheist and fierce opponent of all organized religion.


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## Flora (Mar 14, 2009)

Born and raised a Catholic, though I somehow feel myself drifting towards Agnosticism.

Voted other.


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## Pikachu (Mar 14, 2009)

Theist.
Raised as a Muslim.
Not going to change my mind anytime soon.


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## Not Meowth (Mar 14, 2009)

Atheist. I was never properly raised to be religious, and I never really bought the whole Christian thing. :)


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## opaltiger (Mar 14, 2009)

Hardcore atheist, from a family of hardcore atheists.


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## Jolty (Mar 14, 2009)

Agnostic leaning towards atheist


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## GameFreakerZero (Mar 14, 2009)

Didn't really know about religion until I started school, so I've been an atheist my entire life.


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## Tarvos (Mar 14, 2009)

Atheist.


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## @lex (Mar 14, 2009)

Theist, I guess. I must say I'm starting to grow very fascinated of religions such as the one in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, what with the Goddess growing cold and eventually does not care for her creation, only to wake up prematurely and decide to destroy all sentient life because they're stupid enough to war... It kind of brings elements other religions.

XD


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## Taliax (Mar 14, 2009)

Theist, always will be.


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## Rai-CH (Mar 14, 2009)

Agnostic, but my parents are Atheist and I go to a Christian school.
Now my parents (mainly my mum) like to ask me "What do you believe is real?"

But i don't know what I believe ._.


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## Blastoise Fortooate (Mar 14, 2009)

Umm, Theist.

But not overwhelmingly so. I believe in God, but also evolution and the big bang and all that, so...

Lazy theist.


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## Koori Renchuu (Mar 14, 2009)

Sun worshipper here.  It provides us with life-giving energy, and I can prove it exists!


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## Tailsy (Mar 14, 2009)

52.17% are atheist.

I did not see that coming. Somehow.
[I'M ATHEIST TOO ROFL]


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm Buddhist, and have considered the existence of a deity to be... irrelevant to my beliefs, I suppose you could put it.


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## OrangeAipom (Mar 15, 2009)

ATHEISM FTW


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## Jason-Kun (Mar 15, 2009)

Secret agonostic...raised theist.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 15, 2009)

I'd just like to say that although I'm not at all religious, I do find religions very interesting to study.
I also try not to be one of those extreme shitheads who give us a bad name (though I do enjoy a healthy debate or discussion!)


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## Ether's Bane (Mar 15, 2009)

Blastoise428 said:


> Umm, Theist.
> 
> But not overwhelmingly so. I believe in God, but also evolution and the big bang and all that, so...
> 
> Lazy theist.


^ This.


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## nastypass (Mar 15, 2009)

i am a 'shut the hell up i don't care about your religion keep it to yourself'-ist


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## foreign contaminant (Mar 15, 2009)

i consider myself agnostic. at the same time, though, i think it has more to do with not really knowing a lot about either side - theism and atheism - to really know if i believe in god or not. for all i know, i really _do_ believe in a god, i just don't know what to think of him.


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## Mewtwo (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm a Christian and will have a deep arguement with whoever makes fun of my religion >.>


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## EvilCrazyMonkey (Mar 15, 2009)

A hardcore atheist raised by a family of hardcore Catholics.


wait a minute now...


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## Keta (Mar 15, 2009)

On the totally technical level I'm an atheist and do not believe in the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim God, singular. To an extent I have some faith in lower-level "deities"? Something along those lines- not enough to worship them but to think about occasionally and respect when I get the chance. (there's a crapload of local gods in asia, especially in Japan)

I believe strongly in buddhist ideals- that they're the "right" thing to pursue- however, I don't fully commit to any real "religion"


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## Departure Song (Mar 15, 2009)

Taliax said:


> Theist, always will be.


I thought the exact same thing when I was 12.


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## voltianqueen (Mar 15, 2009)

Atheist. Former theist, till I started thinking about it. I feel less afraid and better about myself :P


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## ultraviolet (Mar 15, 2009)

Agnostic, but I love hearing about religion, it's really interesting.


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## Bombsii (Mar 15, 2009)

Atheist. I've been brought up a christian but i've never really believed any of it. (But really hoped)


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## Jetx (Mar 15, 2009)

Jolty said:


> Agnostic leaning towards atheist


This.
There could be more to this existence than meets the eye, maybe.
As for organised religion... ugh, no.


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## goldenquagsire (Mar 15, 2009)

Hardcore Atheist coming from a family of  mostly-Atheist-but-never-really-gave-a-shit.


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## Bombsii (Mar 15, 2009)

Atheist has exactly half of the vote. Why am I not surprised?


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## Worst Username Ever (Mar 15, 2009)

Agnostic I guess.


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## Tarvos (Mar 15, 2009)

I was raised.... nothing. My parents were like "you get to choose your own religion and make up your own mind." I think my mum is an atheist and my dad is.... deist or agnostic or something, he never elaborates. He isn't theistic in any case, that is for sure.

I am an atheist as well. Take my mum's view, I guess.


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## Flazeah (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm an atheist. Raised as a Catholic, but then I started realising that I didn't actually believe in a god. I find religion quite interesting, though. Religious buildings can look so pretty. :3


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## Alxprit (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm Portuguese, so I'm Roman Catholic.
And... yeah. Nothing else to say.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 15, 2009)

Alxprit said:


> I'm Portuguese, so I'm Roman Catholic.
> And... yeah. Nothing else to say.


I'm Portuguese too (well half) and I'm an atheist.
???


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## Music Dragon (Mar 15, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> I'm Portuguese too (well half) and I'm an atheist.
> ???


Yeah, but that's the thing. You're only _half_ Portuguese. Otherwise you'd have been a Roman Catholic too.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 15, 2009)

Since I'm half Portuguese half Dutch can I be a Roman Protestant or a Roman Muslim or something


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## Aenrhien (Mar 15, 2009)

Thiest, with nothing else to say about it.


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## Autumn (Mar 15, 2009)

Athiest... I wasn't even raised a proper religion. I belong to a Unitarian Universalist church (aka religious tolerance for everybody, we go to various different places of worship and study various religions), so eh.


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## Dinru (Mar 15, 2009)

Leafpool said:


> Athiest... I wasn't even raised a proper religion. I belong to a Unitarian Universalist church (aka religious tolerance for everybody, we go to various different places of worship and study various religions), so eh.


That church sounds awesome :D

Anyway, I'm an atheist with an open mind. I don't really believe anything and just stick to science for my explanations of the universe.I really would like to believe something, I'm just too skeptical to actually accept anything as truth. Well, I think I believe in a few things, but... most of them aren't really religion, I think... not sure @@


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## Zhorken (Mar 15, 2009)

None of these choices is a religion.  :(  Also putting "atheist" or "atheism" down on a list of religions isn't technically correct in any case; "none" or "not applicable" would be more accurate.

I'm an atheist.  I'm against religion; I care enough to explain why if the subject is brought up but I don't tend to bring up religion to have a go at it out of the blue; I certainly don't without taking present company into account.  I'm not fervent enough to toss tact in favor of getting as many chances as I can to explain why religion sucks.  I don't care if my super-Christian aunt keeps being Christian unless she starts to push it on me; I'm not going to try and convince her of anything because nobody will gain anything if I do.

I don't specifically dislike religion, technically; I hate any unfounded belief that requires blind faith.  Religion is just really widespread and pretty much nobody believes in, say, the easter bunny past age 11 at the most.  I like it when people look at what we know to exist or be true, study it, and draw solid conclusions; this is science.  Conversely, when people take hazier things and use them as a base for their views of reality, then spread these views, it bothers me.


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## Tarvos (Mar 16, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> Since I'm half Portuguese half Dutch can I be a Roman Protestant or a Roman Muslim or something


depends on where you're from with regards to dutch. if it's south of the great rivers, then you are catholic anyway


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 16, 2009)

Watershed said:


> depends on where you're from with regards to dutch. if it's south of the great rivers, then you are catholic anyway


I remember seeing a Franciscan monk when they visited Amsterdam in Religiolous, what's up with that. (dude was cool as hell too)


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## Zora of Termina (Mar 16, 2009)

Agnostic, possibly other.
Pretty much forced to go to church because it drives my parents and more recently the pastor's wife (a massively religious Texan) crazy that I apparently "don't believe in anything".

That's not true.
I do believe in a god, I just believe that after he/she created the universe billions of years ago and shit he/she curled up and died and let everything come together from there.


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## opaltiger (Mar 16, 2009)

> That's not true.
> I do believe in a god, I just believe that after he/she created the universe billions of years ago and shit he/she curled up and died and let everything come together from there.


That's deism.


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## see ya (Mar 16, 2009)

Highly spiritual, non-Buddhist strict atheist, if that makes any sense.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 16, 2009)

I have to go to church whenever I'm in Portugal (my grandmother insists we all go because she still pays the priest every month for him to say my grandfather's name, even though he died nine months ago. People in Portugal do this kind of thing a lot) and I don't mind too terribly much because, you know, it makes my gran happy, but I can't imagine how some people actively enjoy going there every week.

Maybe it's just because our priest is senile (and horribly overworked. Three parishes per day, since no young men want to be in the clergy nowadays), but it's so _dull_ and dreary  and nonsensical and depressing. 
And our benches don't even have cushions or anything so I have a completely wooden ass by the time mass is done.

We do have some decently scandalous and cool church/clergy stories that kind of make up for it. One of our ancestors was a priest and he scored like all the time. Very smart, witty and handsome man, too.
Wrong line of work, I guess.


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## Yarnchu (Mar 16, 2009)

Total follower of Arceus. Pokéism rules!

Actually:



foreign contaminant said:


> i consider myself agnostic. at the same time, though, i think it has more to do with not really knowing a lot about either side - theism and atheism - to really know if i believe in god or not. for all i know, i really _do_ believe in a god, i just don't know what to think of him.


Basically describes my thoughts on this.


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## J.T. (Mar 16, 2009)

I believed in the Christian god until I started looking at the world around me and saw what was wrong with us. I thought that a benevolent god worthy of worship would never let it happen. That's when I became an atheist.


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## octobr (Mar 16, 2009)

Christian. Against good amount of protest from friends, who are mostly either antitheist, strongly atheist, or just don't care/are uncomfortable.


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## Dewgong (Mar 16, 2009)

Atheist. Not raised as religious because my parents aren't.


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## Felidire (Mar 16, 2009)

I was gonna go with agnostic but ended up ticking athiest. kinda good to see over half the forum thinks in the same way. <3

_*52.63% forum hug*_


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## Noctowl (Mar 16, 2009)

Atheist.


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## Tarvos (Mar 16, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> I remember seeing a Franciscan monk when they visited Amsterdam in Religiolous, what's up with that. (dude was cool as hell too)


Amsterdam is weird, some of the cities above the rivers do have catholic communities (Amsterdam is the prime example). 

And I have been to catholic church for the same reason as VPLJ (my parents were both born into Catholic families, and are officially catholics, but they are paper catholics as I like to term them, officially raised Catholic but actually don't do anything with it.)


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## Mewtwo (Mar 16, 2009)

Verne said:


> Christian.


YES another Christian ='D


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 16, 2009)

phew yes thank god you found another christian in the midst of all these vile atheists/agnostics/deists/wiccans/buddhists/muslims, we were about to rip your eyes out

seriousquestion: do you only have to be Christian to go to heaven? If so, sweet deal. I'm asking because I've read different verdicts on the matter. I only know it's closed to fags, hookers and idolatrers.


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## Tarvos (Mar 16, 2009)

not in the catholic church those people can buy their way in using indulgences

pretty sure you need to in the more protestant sects


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## Minish (Mar 16, 2009)

Zhorken said:


> None of these choices is a religion.  :(  Also putting "atheist" or "atheism" down on a list of religions isn't technically correct in any case; "none" or "not applicable" would be more accurate.


I just made the poll a 'which of these best fits you' though, and that's not really a title with much attention-grabbing strength. Maybe the title should have been 'Your Beliefs', I dunno. D:

I'm surprised to find so many theists here actually, and I never knew certain people were Christian. I also agree with everyone who's said they find religion very interesting. The way religion's built and affected society is a really fascinating thing to research, even if it is a bit depressing sometimes.


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## Dannichu (Mar 16, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> seriousquestion: do you only have to be Christian to go to heaven? If so, sweet deal. I'm asking because I've read different verdicts on the matter. I only know it's closed to fags, hookers and idolatrers.


Not as far as I know, no. The "requirements" for getting into heaven vary greatly from one branch of Christianity to the next; the "fags, hookers and idolatrers" not being let in is a pretty Catholic view, while Calvinism says that certain people are picked by God before they're even born, and only those will get into heaven, regardless of how anyone lives their lives. Predestination is weeeird.


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## Alexi (Mar 16, 2009)

I feel behind. o.O

Anywho, I'm Wiccan~ I say it a lot, so it's no big surprise. XP I believe in twin deities, and from them stem all other gods and goddesses. I feel I have a stronger connection to the Horned God than any other god or goddess, dunno why exactly. But yeah, I know you all care about this. ^_^


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## Not Meowth (Mar 16, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> seriousquestion: do you only have to be Christian to go to heaven? If so, sweet deal. I'm asking because I've read different verdicts on the matter. I only know it's closed to fags, hookers and idolatrers.


I think, like a concerning number of Christian beliefs, it differs depending on which Christian you're asking. To hardcore, devout Christians it probably is Christians and Christians alone who can go there, but to others think pretty much anybody who lives a good life or whatever can end up there.

(Is it just me or does 51.61% look surprisingly small for a proportion of atheist TCoDers?...)


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## Mirry (Mar 17, 2009)

Been going back and forth between atheism and agnosticism for most of my life, but I think I may have finally settled on atheism (which is what I voted for). Neither of my parents are particularly religious -- my mom is into reading books written by kooky psychic types, and the only time I've ever seen my dad watch a televangelist on TV was to make fun of him throughout. My grandparents, on the other hand, are hardcore conservative Christian and tried to pummel it into my head as a child but it never quite worked -- could never make myself believe it, even though there was a point where I really wanted to believe it.

I think religions are interesting too, though. Hinduism is especially awesome. You should take a course on it if you get a chance, which is what I am doing at the moment. ;) How can you look at a depiction of Ganesha and not smile?


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## Aura Cobalt (Mar 17, 2009)

Theist > Christian > Protestant > Vineyard 

I'm strong in my standing. (The first and second levels, anyways.)


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## Tailsy (Mar 17, 2009)

Oh, wait, I was born Catholic if that counts for anything. The occasional spitting from the Protestants but that died down a lot since first year


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## Alxprit (Mar 17, 2009)

What I meant by my post before is that since I was Portuguese, I was raised Catholic.
My brother is an atheist.


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## octobr (Mar 17, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> phew yes thank god you found another christian in the midst of all these vile atheists/agnostics/deists/wiccans/buddhists/muslims, we were about to rip your eyes out
> 
> seriousquestion: do you only have to be Christian to go to heaven? If so, sweet deal. I'm asking because I've read different verdicts on the matter. I only know it's closed to fags, hookers and idolatrers.


1, please don't be an ass, man, i like you and it's not like they said anything past 'we are not so different, you and i'

2 Personally I think so's long as you're not a douchebag, etc, you can get into heaven. Yeah, this includes fags and hookers and people who aren't outright christian.

But someone's gonna start the 'i can pick and choose out of the bible lol' bs and I hate that shit because it's like we're terrible people for not following the retarded parts of christianity.


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

Verne said:


> But someone's gonna start the 'i can pick and choose out of the bible lol' bs and I hate that shit because it's like we're terrible people for not following the retarded parts of christianity.


So how do you know which parts are retarded and which aren't? Who are you to say they are/aren't? Why do such parts exist in the first place?


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## octobr (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> So how do you know which parts are retarded and which aren't? Who are you to say they are/aren't? Why do such parts exist in the first place?


- I have this thing in my head called a brain

- try telling me that 'SEA FOOD IS EVIL' isn't stupid

- because it made sense once upon a time. A time which it is no longer.


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

Verne said:


> - try telling me that 'SEA FOOD IS EVIL' isn't stupid
> 
> - because it made sense once upon a time. A time which it is no longer.


Why is GOD'S REAL AND HE MADE THE WORLD any less stupid than SEAFOOD IS EVIL?

Does that mean everything in the Bible is no longer relevant?


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## see ya (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> So how do you know which parts are retarded and which aren't? Who are you to say they are/aren't? Why do such parts exist in the first place?


For the sake of argument, most of the Old Testament counts as a retarded part, as well as the more outdated parts of the New Testament (like the bits about divorce and such). IMO, Christianity is really better treated as the philosophy of Jesus Christ than as a religion, but w/e. :\


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## octobr (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> Why is GOD'S REAL AND HE MADE THE WORLD any less stupid than SEAFOOD IS EVIL?
> 
> Does that mean everything in the Bible is no longer relevant?





			
				me said:
			
		

> But someone's gonna start the 'i can pick and choose out of the bible lol' bs and I hate that shit because it's like we're terrible people for not following the retarded parts of christianity.


I am so good, I should write start a fortune telling business


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

Skymin said:


> For the sake of argument, most of the Old Testament counts as a retarded part, as well as the more outdated parts of the New Testament (like the bits about divorce and such). Christianity is really better treated as the philosophy of Jesus Christ than as a religion, but w/e. :\


Then why is the Old Testament still taught, recognized, and sold as part of the Holy Bible?

Who are you to decide which parts are no longer relevant, _especially_ of the New Testament?


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## OLD ACCOUNT (Mar 17, 2009)

Verne said:


> - try telling me that 'SEA FOOD IS EVIL' isn't stupid


Whether food is kosher or not has nothing to do with whether it's 'evil'. And aside from that, a lot of sea food _is_ kosher.


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## octobr (Mar 17, 2009)

Whivit said:


> Whether food is kosher or not has nothing to do with whether it's 'evil'. And aside from that, a lot of sea food _is_ kosher.


Eh, bible actually outright tells you THIS IS TOTALLY UNCLEAN ALL OF IT so


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## see ya (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> Then why is the Old Testament still taught, recognized, and sold as part of the Holy Bible?
> 
> Who are you to decide which parts are no longer relevant, _especially_ of the New Testament?


Kind of like I said, modern Christianity is largely the words and teachings of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is largely the history behind the events leading up to the New Testament, and morally is hideously outdated (it was probably outdated for its time, by the way. Unless genocide was a popular pastime in those days...). Most Christians don't take it as a serious moral guidance (though the more assholish of them will pick and choose to argue against issues like Gay Rights and such)

This being said, I am not a Christian and most likely never will be. I just stopped being all "ARG CHRISTIANITY BAD GRR" so much. I don't really defend the religion, but as it harm none, do as ye wilt, blah blah blah...


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## OLD ACCOUNT (Mar 17, 2009)

Verne said:


> Eh, bible actually outright tells you THIS IS TOTALLY UNCLEAN ALL OF IT so


I'd sum that up to bad translating.


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

Skymin said:


> but as it harm none


I know what you're getting at, but this statement is largely debatable... to the point where I would disagree with it.


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## surskitty (Mar 17, 2009)

Mildly atheist; prone to accepting buddhist worldviews.  I'm not really closed to the general idea of higher powers, but I default to assuming there's nothing.


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

Buddhism's a really attractive philosophy "family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religion." I used to read about it quite frequently, but lately I've been more apathetic.


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## TANMAC43 (Mar 17, 2009)

Baptist.


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## silverfur (Mar 17, 2009)

my gma is christian and everyone expects me to be too..im not baptized yet but I don't wanna be..


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## VelvetEspeon (Mar 17, 2009)

I go by both religion and science, so I just voted theist.


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

VelvetEspeon said:


> I go by both religion and science, so I just voted theist.


So how about that theory of evolution? Pretty convincing stuff, right?


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## Mirry (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> So how about that theory of evolution? Pretty convincing stuff, right?


Accepting the theory of evolution doesn't necessarily preclude the existence of a god.


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## Departure Song (Mar 17, 2009)

Genesis 1:27 said:
			
		

> So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.


Well, this knocks out all Bible-following religions, so...


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## Dannichu (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> Then why is the Old Testament still taught, recognized, and sold as part of the Holy Bible?


See, you can't say "this is what Christians believe" much beyond the whole belief in God/Christ thing. Assuming all people who follow the Bible belive exactly the same thing is stupid; look what disagreements over small differences has done in Ireland, for god's sake.
Fundamentalists do believe that the OT is a very important and relevant part of scripture, to the point of accepting evolution as fact, while other branches accept that the OT was written for a different time period, and some of the things that were socially acceptable back in th' day (like treating women as property) probably shouldn't be practiced today. 
And you've got the really liberal churches, whose only real requirement is "treat others as you would want to be treated" and even, in some cases where they feel that even that needs a social update, "treat others as _they _want to be treated".

And loads of Bibles miss out the OT anyways, and are just published with the NT and Psalms.


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## OLD ACCOUNT (Mar 17, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> Well, this knocks out all Bible-following religions, so...


Most (religious) people I know take this more spiritually than physically. Since it also says that there's God in all of us, so.

Also since I insist on posting here I'm atheist, raised Jewish.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 17, 2009)

I thought only shellfish was evil. Oh yes and pork of course.

And yeah sorry 'bout that, was having a shitty day and didn't think before posting.


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## ultraviolet (Mar 17, 2009)

Feh, I wasn't really raised as anything much - I don't think any of my family is religious in any way except for my great-grandparents. I don't really mind religion that much at all - I simply do not care if so-and-so is Christian/whatever and I really, really hate it when people hate on or make fun of people's religions for no other reason than they dislike it. I figure if you don't like religion then fine - don't be religious. I really don't see the point of arguing with someone about their religion as if it would somehow change their mind about their lifelong philosophy.



			
				VPLJ said:
			
		

> I thought only shellfish was evil. Oh yes and pork of course.


This reminds me of this guy at school; he's my age and he's Jewish. One time we saw him eating a ham sandwich and asked him about it, and he told us that 'sometimes it's okay'.


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## octobr (Mar 17, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> I thought only shellfish was evil. Oh yes and pork of course.
> 
> And yeah sorry 'bout that, was having a shitty day and didn't think before posting.


Yeah no that was a general shitty monday. I think we all kinda felt like ass.

violet it's not his fault it's delicious


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## Not Meowth (Mar 17, 2009)

Whivit said:


> a lot of sea food _is_ kosher.


I think in the Bible it says that everything that swims but doesn't have fins is unclean, so surely that's just fish. =/


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 17, 2009)

Mike the Foxhog said:


> I think in the Bible it says that everything that swims but doesn't have fins is unclean, so surely that's just fish. =/


The actual passage is as follows (excuse the simple language, I have a sort of retardo version of the Bible):
Le. 11:9-12 'Of all the creatures living in the waters of the seas and streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.
But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins or scales - whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water - you are to detest. And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses. Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you.'

So yeah things like lobster and prawn are verbotten. I wonder if this applies to eels and catfish and such since they do have fins but no scales (or very, very small ones embedded in their skin).

There are obviously many things in Judeo-Christian belief that would either be a pain in the ass to follow, like the whole COMPLETELY KOSHER things, or burning bulls at the altar, or pretty damn repulsive by today's standards, like slavery or the completely terrible treatment of women.
I always have to admit I kind of look up to those really strict Jews who never eat anything non-kosher ever because Christ, it's a job and a half. Lots of Jews just eat kosher at home and then don't bother when they go out.
Things like circumcision, on the other hand, are good for hygiene, look nicer and increase your pleasure during sex despite being a bit creepy, so hats off to you guys for inventing it.

My favourite tradition is probably the one that's like 'if you accidentally add one drop of blood to your food you can still eat it as long as you add 59 of the same food to your food to cancel out the uncleanliness i.e. if you're making an omlet and an egg has a blood spot just add 59 more eggs'


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## Celestial Blade (Mar 17, 2009)

Catholic, but Atheist.


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## OLD ACCOUNT (Mar 17, 2009)

Just LOL... That's why I can never take Christianity seriously - the Bible was translated just. So. ... Well, wrong. Lol, 'detested'. Ah, well.

But yeah they have to have scales and fins, and no, eels aren't kosher. They have to have _both_. But kosher =/= clean or evil or anything; it just means you can eat them. You don't detest things that aren't kosher (unless you're insane, yaknow). Ah well.

But you can't eat food if it has ANY blood in it. I dunno where you heard that tradition (I guess some people keep it and others don't?) but, my family cracks eggs in a cup, checks for blood and THEN puts it in with the other food just to be sure. Noooo bloooood. <<;

Tbh though keeping kosher isn't hard _at all_ in Israel. Everything's kosher. You don't even have to check the stuff you buy. And it's even worth it, since non-kosher food has disgusting stuff in it (like bug jello and bug candy D: ew).

Oh and the slaves and mistreatment of women are outdated parts of the Torah (dunno about Bible); I don't know why they're considered outdated and not _other_ clearly outdated parts, but, yes. NO Jews pay attention to the slaves part, at least, though I know chareidim certainly like the mistreatment of women part... <<; Peh.


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## Dannichu (Mar 18, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> Things like circumcision, on the other hand, are good for hygiene, look nicer and increase your pleasure during sex despite being a bit creepy, so hats off to you guys for inventing it.


Female circumcision is absolutely horrific x.x
And I think there are some human rights groups that protest circumcision in general, but I'm sketchy on the details.



			
				Whivit said:
			
		

> Oh and the slaves and mistreatment of women are outdated parts of the Torah (dunno about Bible); I don't know why they're considered outdated and not other clearly outdated parts, but, yes. NO Jews pay attention to the slaves part, at least, though I know chareidim certainly like the mistreatment of women part... <<; Peh.


Again, completely depends on the branch of Christianity. For example, women still can't be ordained in the Catholic Church, and while the Pope says some pretty backwards-thinking things from time to time, Catholic families, from what I know, treat their women the same as pretty much everyone else. Most of the more liberal churches, like the CofE accept female ordination and are all whoo!equality, and slightly less forward-thinking groups like Jehova's Witnesses still post leaflets through my door (that I angrily read while eating my breakfast) that, under the "Family" section, tell women to obey their husbands, and the suggest to the husband to not treat his wife like complete crap if he wants :/


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## Zhorken (Mar 18, 2009)

Vladimir Putin's LJ said:


> Things like circumcision, on the other hand, are good for hygiene, look nicer and increase your pleasure during sex despite being a bit creepy, so hats off to you guys for inventing it.


aaa no

- negligibly good for hygiene at most
- if a guy wants to be circumcised because he thinks it looks good or whatever he can choose to be when he's old enough to choose; parents shouldn't choose for babies (and doctors really shouldn't have any part of the choice*)
- no, it only does bad things for sex

*I've heard of parents suing doctors for circumcising babies without asking first and winning  B3

EDIT: See DH thread I guess


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## shiny jiggly (Mar 18, 2009)

I chose Agnostic because I'm really not sure which way to lean. I just prefer to straddle the fence between things. 
My family is kinda Christian (just enough to celebrate the holidays, but that's just about it) but they don't really do much. I remember when I used to go to a church where they made kids memorize stuff and they served free food on Wednesday nights (my dad wound up taking over as the cook there and the things he made were delicious). Anyways, they kicked us out after I had a temper tantrum that I can't remember for some strange reason. 

I'm open to other ideas and such but I still kinda cling to the old thing like the decaying skeleton of a blanket. 
Basically, until I get some straight answers (which should be pretty much impossible), I'm not going to devote myself to a particular thing (though I'll still participate in the candy-type holidays).


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## J.T. (Mar 18, 2009)

Celestial Blade said:


> Catholic, but Atheist.


wait what


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## Crazy Linoone (Mar 20, 2009)

Celestial Blade said:


> Catholic, but Atheist.


How does this work? 


But, um, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in god/gods. I am open to the possibility that god/gods might exist, but since there's no evidence that I'm aware of that proves his/her/its/their existence, I don't believe in him/her/it/them. 

I am willing to believe in god/gods if someone can come up with enough evidence that is not "because this [insert religious text here] said so" or "you can't prove that [insert god/gods here] doesn't/don't exist". I want scientific evidence, please.


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## Harlequin (Mar 20, 2009)

I'm a hardcore atheist and anti-theist.


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## Elfin (Mar 21, 2009)

I'm a Christian, have always been, always will be. Woot. Saying that.. I sort of think there's that _and_ the big bang, dinosaurs, evolution and all that lovely scientific whatevers. Both. Somehow. So, basically as Blastoise428 said. I'm a hardcore lazy theist. xD


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## foreign contaminant (Mar 22, 2009)

Crazy Linoone said:


> How does this work?


i think he is saying that his parents raised him catholic, but he is atheist on the inside.


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## Mirry (Mar 23, 2009)

Departure Song said:


> Well, this knocks out all Bible-following religions, so...


Well, I guess you could take that metaphorically like Whivit said. But I wasn't trying to argue that evolution and Bible-following religions were compatible; I just meant that the existence of evolution doesn't mean that there's no god. Think the Deist's version of a god if you will.

And I don't think I'd be very good at eating a kosher diet if your food can't have blood in it. I love me a nice, bloody steak. :P


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## Vyraura (Mar 24, 2009)

Evoli said:


> I'm a Christian, have always been, always will be. Woot. Saying that.. I sort of think there's that _and_ the big bang, dinosaurs, evolution and all that lovely scientific whatevers. Both. Somehow. So, basically as Blastoise428 said. I'm a hardcore lazy theist. xD


no, you're a heretic, stop trying to be accepted by the church and just fucking let go already, you're already halfway there.


I'd put Agnostic but too many morons thinks it means you can't decide or you whine that you can't ever know wah wah wah. It actually means you know that you don't really know, but since all logic and reason defies it, you're saying it's all fake unless the laws of physics change. 'Technically' it's the only correct viewpoint since idiots can always say 'BUT YOU CAN NEVER REALLY KNOW SO I WIN' but saying atheist is an easier way of identifying yourself because of the whole definition issue I mentioned at the beginning of this. 

As it is, I'm very strongly against any religion that tries to expand its base proactively. If you're evangelical I hate you. Which is pretty much all the bad religions anyway (real Buddhists are actually cool folks).


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## opaltiger (Mar 25, 2009)

> I'd put Agnostic but too many morons thinks it means you can't decide or you whine that you can't ever know wah wah wah. It actually means you know that you don't really know, but since all logic and reason defies it, you're saying it's all fake unless the laws of physics change.


Not necessarily. The definition of agnosticism varies. What you've said is one way of defining it, but not the only one, so saying "atheist" is always the better option.

And while I'm here, no, it's not technically the only correct viewpoint. Atheism is lack of belief in a deity or deities, thus you cannot pull the "but nothing is ever certain!" card because there is nothing to be certain about.


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## Jason-Kun (Mar 25, 2009)

opaltiger said:


> And while I'm here, no, it's not technically the only correct viewpoint. Atheism is lack of belief in a deity or deities, thus you cannot pull the "but nothing is ever certain!" card because there is nothing to be certain about.


Plus there's the fact you can be an atheist and still be religious. I point to Buddism and Hinduism, they agree.


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## Mirry (Mar 25, 2009)

Jason-Kun said:


> Plus there's the fact you can be an atheist and still be religious. I point to...Hinduism


While this statement isn't technically incorrect, I would hasten to point out that the most popular and widespread brand of Hinduism is devotional.


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## Jack_the_White (Mar 26, 2009)

what do these words in the poll mean?

edit* just remembered what Atheist means


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## TANMAC43 (Mar 26, 2009)

Hinduism believes in hundreds of gods and goddesses.


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## Mirry (Mar 26, 2009)

TANMAC43 said:


> Hinduism believes in hundreds of gods and goddesses.


Generally, yes; but Hinduism is a very vague term applied to a wide range of belief systems, and there are a few atheistic schools of thought in Hinduism. Although, as I said in my previous post, devotional Hinduism is by far more common.


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## Vyraura (Mar 26, 2009)

Hinduism is actually monotheistic as all gods are simply aspects of Brahma, since the humans cannot understand his real form (surprise surprise)


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## Jason-Kun (Mar 26, 2009)

Vyraura said:


> Hinduism is actually monotheistic as all gods are simply aspects of Brahma, since the humans cannot understand his real form (surprise surprise)


o.o I was told in World History class that they were neither monotheistic nor polytheistic.


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## Mirry (Mar 26, 2009)

Guys, Hinduism doesn't have one exact doctrine like Western religions do. :3 Different Hindus believe widely varying things, but they're all considered orthodox Hindus. Some of them buy into the "brahman is the one true reality", some of them don't. It's not like Christianity where everybody's like, "You must accept Jesus as your Savior to be a Christian. Period." In Hinduism you can worship your favorite god/goddess, all of them, or none of them.

So you're all right, basically.


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## Salazard (Mar 26, 2009)

Agnostic. If the end of the world comes, atleast I can say I was never wrong. =P


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## Wymsy (Mar 27, 2009)

I'm agnostic.


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## Cloaked (Mar 27, 2009)

I was sure I'd replied to this thread and noted my beliefs, leaving me open to ridicule and mocking from the theistic part of the community.  I'm an atheist.  I believe nothing, though there is that little lingering background thought that it would be nice to be wrong.

One day, I might try buddhism, but at the moment my heart simply isn't in it.

Edit:  I found the thread I was thinking of, and the post too.  It was in a completely different part of the forum.

Silly me.


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## Tailsy (Mar 28, 2009)

The theistic part of the community isn't into mocking people. Love 'n' tolerance, yo!


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## Celestial Blade (Mar 28, 2009)

Let me rephrase what I said

I was born Catholic, never really was religious EVER, so I am technically Atheist.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 28, 2009)

You aren't 'born' a religion. Religion isn't like being black or something, you can choose it.
You can be born _into_ a religious family, but that doesn't make you religious by default.


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## Dannichu (Mar 28, 2009)

^ Well, you kinda can. Hence ethnoreligious groups, like Jews. One can be considered by oneself and others to be a Jew, but not nessesarily practice Judaism.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Mar 28, 2009)

I thought Jews were a race of people _and_ a religion and that most Jewish people practiced Judaism but not necessarily.
Either way Catholicism isn't anything like that.


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## Dannichu (Mar 28, 2009)

Apparently (and I don't know much about this, so I'm only going on what wiki says, so it could all be vicious liiiies), Irish Catholic is considered by some to be an ethnicity, although from what I can tell, you kinda have to practice Catholicism to fit the bill. I dunno.

Plus, Catholics tend to baptise their kids very early, and given that baptism "is the ritual act by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered", it's not too far off to say "born a Catholic", because, as a newborn, you're not being given a lot of choice in the matter.


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## Vyraura (Mar 28, 2009)

Which is the main reason the Catholic Church is able to claim so many members.


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## Tailsy (Mar 28, 2009)

They wouldn't if people asked to be taken off their list!


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## Tarvos (Mar 28, 2009)

I was born into a Catholic family as well, as my parents are both baptised catholics, yet I wasn't. Catholicism is decided by the baptism. Judaism is decided by heritage (if your mother is a Jew, so are you).


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